Tobacco-stemming machine.



BATBNTED FEB. 17,1903.-

4 Sums-sum I. G. HAVBNS.

- NVENTOR ATTORNEYS TOBAGGO STEMMING MAGHINB. H APPLICATION Hun 001219, 1900: w .80 Menu.

WITNESSES:

N70. 720,802; PATENTED' FEB. 1?, 190's.

. J. a. HAVENS. TOBAGGO STEMMING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED OUT. 19. 1900.

H0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR y" H BY ATTORNEYS PATENTED FEB. 17 .1903.

7 J. G. HAVENSL TOBAGGO STEMMING MACHINE,

APPLIUATION FILED 0O1.19, 1900.

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am 0 9 Wu 1 E F V D B T N E T A P S N E V A H aw J 9 AU O 2 7 0 N TOBACCO STEMM IN G MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 00!..19, 1900.

4 SHBET8SHEET 4.

H0 MODEL.

I T ,6 F ll II T mcmNEYs UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH G. HAVENS, OF MORRISVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNDERWOOD STEMMING MACHINE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

TOBACCO-STEMMING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 720,802, dated February 17, 1903. Application filed October 19 1900. Serial No. 33,539. (No model.)

To aZZ 1072,0122, it may concern.- Fig. 6 is a similar view of the gearing on the Be it known that I, JOSEPH G. HAVENS, a opposite or right-hand side of the machine. citizen of the United States, residing at Mor- Fig. 7 is a detail'section, on a larger scale, of risville, in the county of Bucks and State of the stripping mechanism. Fig. 8 is a detail 5 Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and view showing the toothed guide and scraper useful Improvements in Tobacco-Stemming in front of the upper stripping-roll, and Fig. Machines; and I do hereby declare the follow- 9 is a detail View showing the stripping-rolls ing to be a full, clear, and exact description of and the toothed partition-bar which prevents the invention, such as will enable others fine tobacco thrown backward by the supplezo skilled in the art to which it appertains to mentary stripping-rollsfronimixing with the make and use the same. stripped leaf.

My invention relates to improvements in In the drawings, 1 indicates the main supmachines for stemming or stripping tobacco porting-frame, 2 the feed-table, and-3 the sepaor similar leaves, and embodies certain imrating and stripping chamber. j

I 5 provements upon the machines for stemming 4 4 indicate the main stripping-rolls, which or stripping tobacco illustrated in the patents are grooved and have an intermittent reverse to Joseph B.Underwood, Nos. 556,324, 591,436, action, so that they serve both as feed and as and 661,199. stripping rolls.

My invention consists in certain details of 5 5 indicate the drawing-rolls placed just 20 construction and arrangement of the parts. beyond the stripping-rolls.

The objects of my invention are to obtain 6 6 indicate the supplementary strippingpositive reversal of motion of the stripping rolls, which are of larger diameter than the rolls at predetermined intervals in the operadrawingrolls 5 and have projecting cardtion of the machine. without locking of gearteeth formed of wire or similar material.

25 ing and consequent breaking of the teeth, to Rolls 6 6 are driven at a greater peripheral increase the strength and durability of the velocity than thedrawing-rolls and rotatein gearing by which thestripping-rolls are driven the same direction as the drawing-rolls, so and reversed, to improve the means employed that they operate by wiping from the stems for guiding the leaves to the stripping-rolls the small leaf particles which may cling there- 30 and for cleaning the upper stripping-roll, and to after the passage of the stems through the to improve the means employed for preventmain stripping-rolls. 8o ing fine tobacco thrown backward by the sup- 7 7 indicate two grooved guide-rolls located plementary stripping-rolls from mixing with just beyond the supplementary strippingthe stripped leaf. Theseobjects are attained rolls and which serve to guide the stems from 35 in the invention herein described, and illusthe machine.

trated in the drawings which accompany and 8 indicates the main driving-shaft of the form a part of this specification, in which the machine, provided with a band-wheel 9, by same reference-numerals indicate the same which it may be driven. Said shaft projects or corresponding parts, and in which-- through the machine and upon theleft-hand 0 Figure 1 is a central vertical section of the side is provided with a gear 10, intermeshing machine. Fig. 2 is a detail view showing a with a gear ll, which latter intermeshes with 0 portion of one of the stripping-rolls. Fig. 3 a gear 12 upon the shaft of theilower roll 7 is a plan view of the machine, the cover to and also with a gear 13 upon the shaft of the the stripping-chamber being removed. Fig. lower supplementary stripping-roll 6. The

45 4 is a detail view showing the barrel-pinion, upper supplementary stripping-roll is driven by which the strippingrolls are driven. Fig. from the lower supplementary stripping-roll 5 5 is a detail view of the gearing on the leftby means of gears 14, 15, and 16, the first of hand side of the machine, showing the muti which intermeshes with gear 13 and the last lated gearing for driving the stripping-rolls. of which is on the shaft of the upper strip ping-roll. The upper roll 7 is driven from the lower roll 7 by means of gears 17 and 18 upon the side of the machine shown in Fig. 6. The shaft Sis also provided on the right-hand side of the machine with a pinion 19, intermeshing with a gear 20, mounted upon a shaft 21. The shaft 21 extends through the machine and upon the left-hand side (shown in Fig. 5) is provided with a gear 22, intermeshing with a barrel-pinion 23 upon the shaft of the lower stripping-r0114. Gear 22 is in main an internal gear, its flange being provided with gear-teeth upon its inner side; but such gear-teeth are interrupted through a small space 24, and opposite this space there is an external gear-segment 25, secured to and forming a part of gear 22 and having teeth which likewise intermesh with pinion 23. The result ofthis construction is that as gear 22 revolves in the direction of the arrow the stripping-rolls are rotated backward until the pinion 23 encounters the gear-segment 25, when the motion of the stripping-rolls is reversed and they are driven forward for an instant, this being permitted through the absence of the internal gearteeth in the space opposite the segment 25. As soon as the pinion passes the segment 25 and again encounters the internal gear-teeth the motion of the stripping-rolls is again reversed and they are rotated backward, as before. The teeth of the gear 22, both the internal teeth and the external teeth of segment 25, are of peculiar form, being substantially V-shaped, so that they are very strong at the base, and the teeth of pinion 23 are rollers mounted in disks 26 26, the said disks and rollers together constituting the pinion. This construction is employed in order to secure the necessary strength of tooth and in order that the teeth of gear 22 and pinion 23 may not look when they come together after being disengaged. If the teeth of gear 22 and pinion 23 were of the ordinary epicycloidal form, the teeth of pinion 23 would necessarily be very much undercut because of the relatively great diamter of the gear and the small diameter of the pinion, and being so undercut would be very weak. Moreover, there would also be a pos sibility of the teeth locking when the pinion passed from engagement with the internal gear-teeth to engagement with the external gear-teeth, or vice versa, thus stopping the machine or breaking a tooth. This difficulty, however, is avoided by the use of the rollerpinion, the rollers of which turn readily, so as to facilitate the adjustment of the position of the teeth of the pinion to those of the gear. The drawing-rolls 5 5 are driven from the gear 20 by means of gears 27 and 28, intermeshing and mounted upon the shafts of said rolls, gear 27 intermeshing with gear 20.

The feed-table 2 is divided into a plurality of channels by partitions 29, and at the bottoms of these channels are carrying-belts 30, running over rollers 31. The shaft of that roller 31 which is nearer the stripping mechanism is provided with a gear 32, Fig. 6, intermeshing with gear 20. By these means the carrying-belts are driven.

Upon the shaft 21 are mounted arms 33, supporting a guide-roller 34, located between the belts and the stripping-rolls 4. One of these arms 33 has a downwardly-projecting portion 35, provided with a slot in which works an arm 36, mounted upon a rock-shaft 37. Another arm 38, (indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 6,) likewise secured to shaft 37, carries a pin 39 working in a camgroove 40 upon the inner face of gear 20. The shape of this cam-groove is such and the gear 20 is so mounted upon its shaft that about the time when barrel-pinion 23 is disengaged from the internal teeth of gear 20 and engages the external teeth thereof the arms 33 are moved to the left of Fig. 1 and upward, rotating about shaft 21 and carrying roll 34 up into proximity with the lower stripping-roll 4. Said roll 34 is driven from the gear 20 by a pinion 41, Fig. 6, intermeshing with gear 20, and rotates in the direction of motion required to feed leaves across the gap between belts 30 and the stripping-rolls 4.

42 is a movable stop located between the feed-table 2 and the stripping mechanism. It is a horizontal transverse triangular bar carried by arms 43, pivoted to the frame of the machine. These arms rest upon the roller 34, and when said roller is in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 6 the stop 42 is elevated to a position such that it blocks the passage of leaves from the feed-belts 30 to the stripping mechanism; but when, as above mentioned, the roller 34 moves toward the stripping-rollers the stop 42 drops downward by gravity, its upper face then becoming substantially horizontal and forming, in conjunction with a narrow table 44, interposed between the feed-belts and the said stop, a support and guide for the butts of the leaves. This is shown in Fig. 7. hen the roller 34 returns to its normal position, the stop is raised and in rising blocks the further passage of leaves to the stripping mechanism, at the same time raising away from the stripping-rollers leaves which may have failed of engagement therewith while the stop was down, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 7.

A horizontal toothed guide-bar and scraper 45 is located above the stop 42 and serves to prevent leaves from passing over the top of the upper stripping-roll and also to scrape from the stripping roll any leaf portions which may tend to adhere thereto. This bar is adjustably mounted, so as to beadjustable toward or from the stripping-rolls. The upper edge of a partition 46 serves as a similar scraper for the lower stripping-roll and also serves, as hereinafter described, to separate the stripped leaf from the fine tobacco removed by the supplementary strippingrolls. Another toothed bar 47 rests upon the journal-boxes of the upper stripping-r0114, its teeth entering the groove in said stripping-roll. The said bar serves, primarily, to prevent fine leaf particles thrown backward by the supplementary stripping-rolls 6 from mixing with the stripped leaf; but it also serves as an additional scraper and cleaner Lforithe upper stripping-roll.

The 1erati on of the machine is as follows: The parts of the machine being in motion, the leaves tobetstripped are laid upon the feed-belts 30 in the channels formed by the,

partitions 29 and are carried forward by said belts to the stop 42. At intervals the camgroove 40 of the gear 20, operating through the levers 38, 36, 35, and 33, moves the roll 34 forward into proximity with the-strippingrolls, as shown in Fig. 7, thereby permitting the stop 42 to drop. The leaves upon the feed-belts 30 which previously had been held backward by the stop are thereby permitted to move onward toward the stripping-rolls, their butts being supported and guided by the table 44 and the upper face of the stop 42 and also by the roller 34, which forms a supplemental feed-roller, serving to carry onard the butts of theleaves and guide them into the grooves of the stripping-rollers 4 4. The roll 34 is provided with stem-grooves, as already mentioned, which grooves register with the corresponding stem-grooves of the stripping-rollers, the purpose being that as the roll 34 feeds the leaves onward the butts will naturally fall into the stem-grooves of said roll and will therefore be presented to the stripping-rollers directly opposite the stem-grooves thereof. As shown in Fig. 2, the stripping-rollers are provided with teeth at the bottoms of their grooves. At the instant when the butts of the leaves are presented to the stripping-roll, as above mentioned, the barrel-pinion 23 is in engagement with the teeth of the external gear-segment 25, forming a part of gear 22, and the stripping-rolls are rotating in the direction required to feed the leaves onward through the stripping mechanism. The strippingrolls continue to rotate forward in this manner, serving as feed-rolls, until the butts of the leaves have been engaged by the drawingrolls 5. At the instant when such engagement of the butts by the drawing-rolls is com pleted the pinion 23 leaves the external gearsegment 25 and encounters theinternal gearteeth of gear 22, the motion of the strippingrolls being thereby reversed and somewhat accelerated. The drawing-rolls are not reversed, however, since they are driven from the gear 20. The stems of the leaves are therefore drawn forward between the stripping-rolls 4, notwithstanding the reverse ro into the position shown in Fig. 1, thereby raising the stop 42, checking the further feeding of leaves to the stripping mechanism, and raising away from the stripping-rolls leaves which may have been presented to such rolls but may have failed of engagement therewith, as shown in dotted lines in'Fig. 7. The

. ,leaf portions stripped from the stems by the rolls 4 4 drop into the space between said rolls and the roll 34 and fall downward into the space under the feed-table 2. The stems drawn onward by the drawing-rolls 5 5 pass between the supplementary strippingrolls 6, 6, which revolve in the same direction as the stems, but with much greater peripheral velocity than the peripheral velocity of the rolls 5 5. Any of the leaf particles still clingihg to the stems are wiped therefrom by the supplementary stripping-rolls and the stems pass onward through the guide-rolls 7 7 and over a guard 48, and so outward from the machine. The fine tobacco thus stripped from the stems falls upon a curved guide 49, which guides it to the nozzle of a blower 50, driven by a belt from any suitable portion of the machine. Said blower is provided with a vibrating screen 51, vibrated by means of a cam on the fan-shaft of the blower. The fine leaf particles are blown upward by the blast from the fan and fall into the chamber 52. Particles of stem which may fall down with such fine leaf particles being heavier drop upon the vibrating screen 51 and by the vibrations thereof are gradually shaken down to the front end of the screen and thence fall upon the casing of the fan, and so to the ground. The bar 47 effectually arrests, any fine leaf particles which cling for a time to might otherwise be thrown backward over the upper stripping-roll 5, thereby keeping the stripped leaf clean and at the same time saving a considerable amount of the fine tobacco. The fine tobacco stopped by the said bar 47 falls downward through the space between the stripping-rolls 4 4 and the drawingrolls 5 5.

Having thus completely described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a leaf-stripping machine, the combination with stripping-rolls movable alternately in opposite directions, and automatic feeding devices for feeding the leaves to and between said rolls, of a toothed guide-plate, the teeth of which project into grooves of one of said rolls, said plate thereby serving as a cleaner for said roll, and as a guide, to prevent leaves from passing around that roll instead of between the stripping-rolls.

2. In a leafstripping machine, the combination with stripping-rolls movable alternately in opposite directions, automatic feeding devices for feeding the leaves to and between said rolls, and a swinging guide-roll opposite l one of said stripping-rolls, of a toothed guidethe upper supplementary stripping-rolls and.

tion, with main and supplementary strippingrolls, located in pairs, one above the other, of a toothed stop-plate, located over the upper main stripping-roll, with its teeth entering the grooves thereof, and serving to stop leaf particles thrown backward by the 'supplementary stripping-rolls.

5. Inaleaf-stemmingmachine,the combination,with movable stripping devices, adapted to be moved alternately in opposite directions, of driving mechanism therefor, comprising a barrel-pinion having roller-teeth, and a mutilated gear, having internal and external V-shaped teeth adapted to engage said pinion and rotate the same.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH G. HAVENS.

Witnesses:

D. HOWARD HAYWOOD, HARRY M. MARBLE. 

